Ubisoft on Assassin’s Creed: “The Goal Is Not to Automatically Come Back to an Annual Cycle”

Jason DunningThursday, February 18, 2016

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Speaking at Ubisoft’s Investor Day today, CEO Yves Guillemot addressed their recent decision to give Assassin’s Creed a rest this year as they re-examine the franchise. According to him, they plan on having a new entry in 2017, but not necessarily one in 2018:

The goal is not to automatically come back to an annual cycle, but to come back on a regular basis. We can’t say every year.

Chief Financial Officer Alain Martinez also talked about Assassin’s Creed, revealing that they have focused one of their best teams behind the series. Giving them time to release something “we hope to be exceptional,” Ubisoft is also “setting up rules so that they will have enough time to polish the game and come with something really exceptional, so this is what we have for our first priority.”

He continued:

Then after that, if we feel like we are in the right direction and that we can continue the path and we have enough innovation for the next one, we might come with the next one in the next year. But it’s no longer something that will be set up every year.

Elsewhere in his speech, Guillemot revealed plans to grow Ubisoft’s revenue by 60% to €2.2 billion by the end of fiscal year 2018-19. To accomplish this they’ll make “a strong push on multiplayer-centric games”, as evidenced by Rainbow Six Siege, The Division, and For Honor, while also focusing on a multi-year live operations model to drive engagement.

Discussing the “new high-potential AAA brand with strong digital live services” scheduled for next fiscal year, Guillemot said it will be driven by multiplayer. Martinez added, “It is multiplayer-centric, so clearly, it is following the path of For Honor, Ghost Recon, and Rainbow Six. So it is going to be strongly multiplayer-centric, with a strong solo side also.”